Woman gets 78 days for vehicle theft, debit card fraud

A woman who made several purchases with a stolen debit card while on methamphetamine was given a 78-day sentence in Brandon provincial court on Thursday.

Jessica Strahl pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud, theft of a motor vehicle, breach of probation and breaking her curfew after a series of offences dating back to March and as recent as last Tuesday.

In addition to the 78-day sentence, Strahl was given a $260 fine and two years of probation, including counselling.

Judge John Combs made note of the number of people moving through the court system who are struggling with addiction, particularly methamphetamine.

A woman who made several purchases with a stolen debit card while on methamphetamine was given a 78-day sentence in Brandon provincial court on Thursday.

Jessica Strahl pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud, theft of a motor vehicle, breach of probation and breaking her curfew after a series of offences dating back to March and as recent as last Tuesday.

In addition to the 78-day sentence, Strahl was given a $260 fine and two years of probation, including counselling.

Judge John Combs made note of the number of people moving through the court system who are struggling with addiction, particularly methamphetamine.

“All I can say to you Ms. Strahl is if you don’t get a handle on your addiction, it’s very likely you’re going to be back here again,” Combs said.

Between March 11 and 12, Strahl used a stolen credit card to make purchases at several gas stations in Brandon and elsewhere in the early hours of the morning.

The purchases include two payments of $2.70 and $29.47, made within one minute of each other, at the Husky on 18th Street North, a $57.24 purchase at a Shell gas bar, and a $40.50 purchase at the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Petro-Canada at Highway 21 and the Trans-Canada Highway.

Prior to that, a man had informed the Virden RCMP that his wife’s wallet had been stolen from their vehicle and that they suspected Strahl and another man were responsible.

Strahl and the other man were also implicated in the theft last March of a 2006 GMC Sierra truck and utility trailer, which contained a number of tools and lumber, from a business in Reston.

The man whose wife’s wallet was stolen had also informed police that he saw a black trailer parked behind a nearby barn that appeared suspicious, given he had heard about the theft in Reston and knew the property owner did not live on the land.

RCMP later searched the property and found the trailer that had been stolen from the couple in Reston, along with ladders, tools and machinery hidden under a tarp that also belonged to them.

Police also found a stolen powerboat and trailer that had been reported missing from the Oak Lake campground on Sept. 1, 2017.

Surveillance footage obtained later by police would show Strahl using the stolen debit card and she was arrested by the Brandon Police Service on March 22.

Strahl told police that she was with the other man when he stole the truck and utility trailer from Reston and took them to the abandoned farm yard where they were later found.

She said the man had also stolen the wallet and given her the debit card to pay for gasoline. Strahl had said that while she saw the name of the owner on the debit card, she figured it was stolen.

Strahl also said she and the other man had been using methamphetamine over those few days.

The defence argued that Strahl was not the principal actor in this case and had been caught in the “throes of her own addiction.”

Strahl’s counsel also noted that she has been both successful and unsuccessful in the past when seeking treatment for drug addiction.

Her lawyer asked the court to consider not making counselling mandatory for Strahl, given her past history.

But Combs said his view was that a probation officer dealing with someone who has an addiction must recognize that there will be setbacks and that the court expected Strahl to put in a “reasonable effort” when it comes to counselling.

Strahl’s breach of probation charges were the result of her not reporting to her probation officer on March 13 and not informing the officer about her change of address.

Most recently, Strahl was arrested for beaching her curfew after Blue Hills RCMP received a complaint about Strahl at 10:51 a.m. on Tuesday.

A police check later revealed that Strahl had a curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., but had spent the evening outside of her designated residence.

Combs took into consideration the amount of time that Strahl has already spent in custody when handing down his sentence.

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